Curb Those Junk Food Cravings
We're all born, researchers are discovering, with an innate taste for sweet and salt, and as we grow, we learn that fat makes food taste great, too. Entire candy, snack and fast-food industries have grown up around the appetites that seem to be hard-wired into us.
But what happens when your school-age child becomes way too fond of what most of us label "junk" food?
"There's no real definition of junk food," says Laurie Dunham, MS, RD, LD, a dietitian in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "Junk food is not necessarily high in calories, but it's always low in nutrients. Pop is a good example: It has no vitamins or minerals, no nutrients at all. It's pure sugar.
"The more processed a food is, the more nutrients are depleted from it. Nearly all the nutrients have seeped out of fast-food French fries, while a baked potato at the same restaurant still has most of its vitamins and minerals intact."
Healthy Habits Start at Home
Once a child leaves the house to buy a school lunch or an after-school snack with friends, parents can only hope that their son or daughter will take along some of the lessons they've tried to instill at the family dinner table.
"Parents have to practice what they teach, introducing a wide variety of foods to their children at an early age, and eating the kinds of healthful foods they want their children to eat when they're older. The family might try a new fruit or vegetable every week. It's also important to set regular meal times, so children will know what to expect when," Ms. Dunham recommends.
Parents usually take their children to their first fast-food restaurant, so the experience can be a time for a quick chat about nutrition. "You might say, 'I'm in the mood for a burger, so I'll have salad and a baked potato with it instead of fries.' It's important to talk about balance, that if you're having fried food for dinner, you need to have a healthful breakfast and lunch."
Tips for Teaching
As tempting as it may be, Ms. Dunham urges parents not to label some foods "good" and others "bad." "It's important to teach that we can eat all foods, but portion control is the key. It's fine to have ice cream, but three helpings is not a good idea. We don't want children to fear fats or carbohydrates, and then go on fad diets."
She also warns against restricting junk food completely, "because that may make a child want it even more."
In the home, parents can always offer alternatives to junk-food snacks, such as popcorn and pretzels instead of fried chips, and peanut butter, apples and bananas instead of cookies.
"Teens might have a period where they'll eat junk food to assert their autonomy from you, and that's normal. If they're growing normally, let them eat whatever they want for a while. But always have healthful foods at regular meal times in your home, and occasionally bring up the issues of nutritional balance and portion control."
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